Els Rose receives honorary doctorate from the University of Lausanne

Els Rose has received an honorary doctorate from the University of Lausanne. Rose is professor of late and medieval Latin at Utrecht University. The committee commended Rose for “ her original research, that has contributed to an understanding of the breadth and depth of the reception of texts and traditions in the liturgy of the Latin Church and more widely in Western culture.”

Examining visions of citizenship in the Middle Ages

Her research focuses on citizenship discourses in Western Europe in the period 400-1100. As a medievalist, she stands in an interdisciplinary tradition, combining philological, literary and historical methods with the material transmission of textual culture through manuscripts.

She collaborates in her research within and far beyond Utrecht. The research school Medievistics, research school OIKOS and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) are important partners.

Saint Martin expert

In and around Utrecht, Rose became known for a major celebration around the 900th anniversary of the city's patron Saint Martin: The Miracle of Saint Martin. That celebration was part of the NWO VICI project Citizenship Discourses in the Early Middle Ages, under her direction. She was closely involved from Utrecht University as initiator and Saint Martin expert. The programme included medieval music, an exhibition created by students in the Dom Church, a public book edited by Els Rose, a symposium and a documentary on Saint Martin.

Acknowledgement for research on liturgical history and religious scriptures

In previous research projects she focused on Christian liturgy of the Middle Ages, the cult of the saints, Christian apocryphal literature, and the apocryphal Acts of the Apostles. With this honorary doctorate, the University of Lausanne shows deep appreciation for how Rose has shaped this field of research over the past 20 years.